Circular loom



E. A. DAVIS CIRCULAR LOOM Now-23, 1943.

Filed Dec. 17, 1941 Patented Nov. 23, 1943 CIRCULAR LOOM Edward A. Davis, Akron,

B. F. Goodrich Compan corporation of New York Ohio, assignor to The y, New York, N. Y., 1!.

Application December 17, 1941, Serial No. 423,356 4 Claims. (01. 139-371) This invention relates to circular looms for weaving tubular fabrics.

In the manufacture of tubular fabrics such as hose jackets and the like, circular looms employed heretofore have included devices for disconnecting the power supply to the loom when the filler thread on the bobbin has become exhausted, which devices have, however, been un certain in operation and subject to undesirable wear due to the fact that the shuttle mechanism has contacted repeatedly with the circuit breaker before actually disconnecting the power supply.

The present invention aims to overcome these and other difliculties and to provide an improved apparatus having improved'operation.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide circuit breaker operating means adapted for positive breaking of the circuit at initial contact with the shuttle mechanism, to reduce wear of the breaker operating means, to provide a quick and positive break of the control circuit, and to avoid waste and defective material.

These and other objects will appear from the following description and the accompanying drawing.

or the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the shuttle, its driving and guiding mechanism, the filled bobbin, and the tubular guide with the warp and filler threads, showing the invention embodied therein in its preferred form, parts being shown in section and parts broken away, the circuit breaker operating mechanism being shown in its non-breaking position.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional elevation thereof taken on line 22 of Fig. 1, parts being broken away.

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of the breaker operating mechanism of the invention on an enlarged scale, parts being shown in section and parts broken away.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 3, showing the circuit breaker operating mechanism in full lines in its non-breaking position, and in dot and dash lines in its circuit breaking position.

In accordance with the invention, a feeler arm associated with the shuttle is mounted for adjustably contacting the filler yarn on the bobbin, a member for contacting a stationary circuit breaker to open the circuit is also associated with the shuttle and is normally held in a path remote from the circuit breaker, and the bobbin contacting member is adapted at a position of its adjustment instantaneously to project the circuit combs and is supported the raceway.

breaker contacting member into a new path intercepted by the circuit breaker to stop the loom.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention a movable roller arm is pivotally attached to the shuttle and urged against the filler thread on the bobbin, and a toggle arm also pivotally mounted on the shuttle has a roller urged against a surface of the movable roller arm so that when the roller arm engages a full bobbin the toggle arm rolls to one end of the'surface and a, contact breaking arm fixed to the toggle arm is held in a path radially removed from a circuit breaker and when the roller arm engages 'an empty bobbin the toggle arm snaps to a second position along the surface where its path is intercepted by the circuit breaker.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l0 designates the bed plate of a circular loom having a guide bushing II at its center and a second guide bushing l2 in axially spaced relation thereto is supported thereabove. A circular comb I3 is fixed to the bed plate concentric with bushing II and with its teeth I4 extending upwardly. A second circular comb I5 is suspended thereabove with its teeth [6 extending downwardly. A shuttle l1 comprising a segment of a ring having warp guide bars l8, i9, 20, 2| and a segmental annular rack 22 fixed thereto is adapted to be driven about an annular raceway 23 on the bed plate and between the combs. The shuttle has guide rollers 24, 25, 26, 21 which roll along the by rollers 32, 33 engaging For rotating the shuttle, a plurality of driven pinions 28, 29 are spaced about the raceway in position to engage the rack 22 and are driven at uniform speed by an electric motor (not shown). The arrangement is such that the shuttle rack is longer than the are between pinions and the rack always engages at least one pinion. The warp threads 30, 3| are drawn radially through vertically oscillating heddles (not shown) and through combs l3, l5 over and under the shuttle and pass between bushings ll, I2. The shuttle passes through the shed formed by the warps, the guide bars l8, I9, 20, 2| being shaped to spread the warps progressively. Shedding proceeds progressively just ahead of the shuttle.

The bobbin 40 of filler yarn is rotatably supported on a spindle 4| removably supported by the shuttle. The filler yarn 62 is drawn therefrom about guide pulleys 43, 44 rotatably fixed to the shuttle and passes radially from roller 44 to the guide bushings ll, I2 where it is woven between the warps to form the'tubular fabric 45.

A guide arm 48 fixed to the shuttle assists in guiding the warps and in pressing the filler into place.

For stopping the loom when the filler thread is exhausted from the bobbin, a bracket 50 is fixed to the shuttle and a shaft BI is joumaled in bearings formed therein. An arm 52 is fixed to shaft 5| and carries an antifriction roller 53 adapted to rest on the surface of the bobbin. A torsion spring 54 encircles shaft 51 and one end =thereof engages bracket 50 as at Ma. while the other end 54b engages over arm 52 so as to urge the arm toward the face of the bobbin. A toggle arm 55 is fixed to a shaft 58 journaled in bracket 55. Arm 55 is bored to receive a plunger 5'! slidably mounted therein in a plane perpendicular to the axis of shafts ti and 56 and urged away from shaft 56 by a coil spring 34. An antifriction roller 55 is rotatably mounted on the end of plunger 57 and impinges against a cam face 5% of a cam 59 fixed to shaft 5! under the pressure of spring 34. A pair of keepers 80, *6! at the ends of the cam face retain the roller 58 in contact with the surface. An arm 52 is fixed to shaft 56 in such position that at the full line position of Fig. 4, the arm 62 travels with the shuttle in a path which avoids contact with a depending operating arm 63 of a circuit breaker 8% fixed to comb i5 and the motor which drives the loom, and dash position of Fig. 4, the arm 67. moves with the shuttle in a path which is intercepted by arm 63.. The arrangement is such that with a full bobbin and roller 55 resting on the face of the filler on the bobbin, the surface 59a will slope in such direction to the axis of plunger 51 that the roller 58 will rest against surface 59a at the full line position of Fig. 4 or toward the base of the bracket 58, the cam surface holding the arm 52 toward the center of the loom where it is not intercepted by the arm 53 of the breaker. As the filler is used, the roller 53 moves gradually closer to the bobbin but arm 62 remains in the same position with respect to the shuttle until arm 52 has moved to a position where it, nearly contacts the bare bobbin.

At this position the cam face 59a which has gradually changed its inclination to plunger 51, passes over dead center and assumes inclination in the other direction. Whereupon roller 58 under pressure of the spring plunger 51 rolls quickly to the other end of the cam face snapping the arm 62 to the dot and dash position. As the arm 52 is carried by the shuttle it contacts: arm 53 fully during the same or succeeding shuttle cycle and opens the circuit breaker, stopping the loom before the filler completely runs out. A new bobbin may then be placed on the shuttle and in lifting arm 52 to clear the full bobbin the arm 52 is snapped back automatically to the: full line position of Fig. 4 where it permits starting of the loom. The filler from the new bobbin is spliced to the trailing end of the used filler and weaving is resumed.

To provide adjustment of the apparatus so thatthe circuit breaker is opened at a determinate position, arm 52 may be provided with an eccentric bushing 52a adjustable about a stud 52b and held in adjustment thereon by a screw bolt 52c and roller 53 is joumaled on the eccentric bushing. Cam 59 is also adjustably secured to shaft 5| by a set screw 59b.- The arrangement is such that the cam may be adjusted about shaft 5| and locked thereto and then screw bolt 520 may be loosened and bushing 52a turned assanu in the control circuit of and in the dot about stud 52b for further fine adjustment of the stopping position.

The apparatus is especially useful in positively stopping the loom at a position just short of exhaustion of filler as the movement of arm 52 into a path intercepted by the breaker arm is delayed and sudden and therefore opens the breaker by full contact therewith at the first contact saving the breaker and contacting arm from wear due to repeated rubbing actions preceding positive operation. By positively stopping the loom at a desired position. production of defective woven material is avoided.

Variations may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. Controlling means for a loom having a circular raceway, a shuttle adapted to be propelled thereabout, a circuit breaker mounted along said raceway in a circuit controlling operation of the loom, a bobbin on said shuttle for supplying a filler yarn, and a feeler arm arranged to engage the surface of the filler yarn on said bobbin and to be adjustably positioned thereby, said controlling means comprising a circuit breaker operating member carried by said shuttle in a path remote from the circuit breaker, and means associated with said feeler arm for instantaneously shifting the position of said member to a path intercepted by said circuit breaker at, a determinate condition of the supply of filler yarn on said bobbin to operate the circuit breaker to stop the operation of the loom. said last named means comprising a toggle arm pivotally mounted on the shuttle, a cam associated with the feeler arm, a roller on said toggle arm, and spring means for holding said roller against said cam, said cam being arranged to change its angular relation to said toggle arm with respect to a dead-center position of said toggle by movement of said feeler arm. 1 v

2. In a loom having a circular raceway, a shuttle adapted to be propelled thereabout, and a bobbin on said shuttle for supplying a filler yarn, the combination therewith of a circuit eaker mounted along said raceway in a circuit controlling operation of the loom, a feeler arm pivoted on the shuttle for movement toward and away from the face of the bobbin about an axis substantially parallel to that of the bobbin toengage the surface of the filler yarn on said bobbin and to be adjustably positioned thereby, a circuit breaker operating member carried by said shuttle in a path remote from the circuit breaker,

and means associated with said feeler arm for instantaneously shifting the position of said member to a path intercepted by said circuit breaker at a determinate condition of the supply of filler yarn on said bobbin to operate the circuit breaker to stop the operation of the loom.

3. In a loom having. a circular raceway, a shuttle adapted to be propelled thereabout, and a bobbin on said shuttle for supplying a filler yarn, the combination therewith of a circuit breaker mounted along said raceway in a circuit controlling operation of the loom, a feeler arm pivoted on the shuttle for movement toward and away from the face of the bobbin about an axis substantially parallel to that of the bobbin to engage the surface of the filler yarn on said bobbin and to be adjustably positioned thereby. a circuit breaker operating member carried by said shuttle in a path remote from the circuit breaker, and means associated with said feeler arm for forward portion of said frame, a hood over said brush, fluid distributing means mounted over said brush and within said hood, a suction nozzle immediately to the rear of said hood, a suction fan in communication with said nozzle, a motor 5 having its drive shaft connected at one side to said fan and having the other side of said drive shaft connected to reduction gearing, said reduction gearing being connected to a chain sprocket, a conduit leading from said fan to a waste receptacle, said wast-e receptacle being mounted at a level slightly above and to the rear of saidfan, said conduit being disposed in a substantially flat horizontally inclined plane, said waste receptacle being detacha'bly secured to said frame and being easily removed therefrom, the conduit extending into said receptacle beyond the interior wall thereof.

VICTOR c. SNYDER. 

